My dog is limping after a tick bite. Should I give amoxicillin?

These symptoms are very suspicious of a tick born disease such as tick fever, babesiosis or lyme disease. you should take him back to your vet and request a blood test to identify those potential blood parasites, treatment is with some very specific medications and antibiotics.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Max! Most dogs with Lyme improve on doxycycline with in 3 days and STAY better. They don't relapse on meds. The most common reason for initially doing well on the doxycycline and then getting worse again is immune mediated polyarthopathy. That is treated with immunosuppressants like prednisone. I would get a second opinion. I wish Max a speedy recovery!

A tick borne disease seems likely, although depending on the antibiotic prescribed and length of treatment he may have already had appropriate treatment for most tick borne diseases. Immune mediated polyarthritis could also cause intermittent pain in multiple joints. I would recommend having your veterinarian recheck Tango when he is having trouble walking - some other tests to consider would be sending out a blood panel for less common tick borne diseases or obtaining samples of joint fluid for analaysis. Sometimes repeating x-rays can be helpful as well.

The answer is a bit complicated. Yes, I would be concerned about tick diseases, however the test may or may not show a positive even if he did get infected with lyme disease because it takes about 4 weeks for antibodies to be high enough for the test to detect them. Furthermore, he could have been exposed to lyme disease, but have a different issue causing the signs you're seeing. So, it's definitely a judgement call -- and if your funds are more flexible testing again may give you interesting information, but if your funds are more limited, it may make more sense to just treat for tick diseases with an antibiotic like doxycycline. Of course, your vet may see something on the physical exam or general blood work or x-rays that makes them concerned about something else more than tick disease, in which case pursuing that makes sense. I know that's not horribly helpful, but hopefully it gives you some context to think about.

Unfortunately both lyme and erhlichia can cause an infection again, even after initial treatment. I would recommend treating her since she has clinical signs, but also ask your vet if they can run a PCR test to confirm active infection, rather than just exposure. That was you can be sure this infection isn't just from last year. I hope that helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would be looking into the possibility of this being something affecting the joints per se such as immune mediated polyarthritis or perhaps something like hypertrophic osteodystrophy given his young age. These are possible things your veterinarian can look into. Treatment of course would depend on findings. At the very least they can try pain control medications and anti-inflammatory drugs. Best of luck!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Balto is super handsome! Yes, I think that Balto is painful. If they have a sore neck they can have a root signature (pinched nerve) and also limp. Not wanting to do steps and jump up is common with neck or back pain. If ticks are common in your area Lyme disease is also possible. I recommend that you have Balto looked at by your Vet. They can take his temperature and do a good orthopedic exam. We can also run lyme tests in house with in 10 mins. Since he is painful I would have him examined today. I treat neck or back issues with an anti-inflammatory, a muscle relaxant and additional pain medications (tramadol or gabapentin). I hope this helps and I wish Balto a speedy recovery!